LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday came to the rescue of a home guard who was sacked for having homosexual preferences. The home guard was dismissed from the service after his video with his partner had gone viral on social media.
The court ordered the commandant general of home guards to take the home guard back in service with immediate effect.
The order was passed by a single judge bench comprising Justice Sunita Agarwal. She allowed the petition filed by the aggrieved home guard challenging the cancellation of his appointment by the district commandant of home guards, Bulandshahr, on June 11, 2019.
In reply to the petition, the commandant of home guards had stated that the petitioner was dismissed for indulging in untoward activity linked to his sexual orientation. The court said that the dismissal was in violation of the Navtej Singh Johar ruling of the Supreme Court.
“The apex court, in the said case, has held that the sexual orientation of the person is his individual choice and any act of treating it as an offence would be an interference in the right of privacy of the person concerned,” said Justice Agarwal.
“It was held that any display of affection amongst the members of the LGBT community towards their partners in public, so long as it does not amount to indecency or has the potentiality to disturb public order, cannot be bogged down by majority perception,” observed Justice Agarwal.
The court quashed the dismissal order terming it ‘vindictive in nature’. The High Court order, dated February 2, 2021, came to light only on Tuesday.